Around 3% of blood donors suffer from infections: Study

Around 3% of the donors, who come for blood donation at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, are infected with various diseases, a study published in the recent issue of Asian Journal of Transfusion Science has found.

Around 3% of the donors, who come for blood donation at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, are infected with various diseases, a study published in the recent issue of Asian Journal of Transfusion Science has found.

Blood donation from these donors can’t be used for transfusion. The study was carried out for a period of one year, and total 15,322 blood donors came to the PGIMER for blood donation during that time.

During the study, as many 464 blood donors (more than 3%) were found suffering from different infections. Of these 464 cases, 47 were HIV positive, 284 were positive for Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg), 49 were Hepatitis-C (HCV) positive and 84 were venereal diseases.

The study was aimed at evaluating the response rate of infected donors after the notification of their abnormal test results in 2012. After these people were found suffering from different infections, around 50% of the donors were contacted telephonically and the remaining 50% were not contacted on phone, but by the post.

For those were contacted telephonically, the response rate was 98.2%, while those contacted by the post did not respond to any communication.

The study revealed that donor notification and post-donation counselling are an essential aspect of the blood bank, which entails the provision of information on infection status, assessment of the impact of test results on the donor and finally referral for medical care.

“These results are encouraging because they indicate that a major element of the notification message is acted upon, only when it is worded clearly. The very high response rate of the contacted donors ensured their concern for knowing their test result status, ”the study found.